


RED WEST III.

by witchann2



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, American History, Bandits & Outlaws, Blood and Violence, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Drama & Romance, Family Issues, Friendship, Gay Sex, Love, M/M, Male Friendship, Revenge, Sex, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Shooting Guns, Swearing, Violence, Western
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:20:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29680398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchann2/pseuds/witchann2
Summary: For your attention: This is a direct sequel of Red West II.A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
Relationships: Akanishi Jin/Kamenashi Kazuya





	1. Prologue

**_Inside one dark jail..._ **

  
  
**T** he hammer strikes resonated through the city streets as a dark omen.  
  
Most citizens were already asleep, or at least they pretended not to hear the tireless works on the square. On the other hand, there were also those who were excited about the upcoming gloomy spectacle. No matter the late hour, they were eager to express their opinions over drinks and cards in the biggest local saloon. But the fuss from the taproom didn´t reach the street through the closed door.  
  
A sudden gust of wind from the Rocky Mountains ruffled the dust on the main road, making the hangman cough and halt his thorough hammering for a while. But soon, the tall sinewy man resumed his work and other heavy hits disrupted the peace of night, as well as a nap of some small child, whose crying could be heard from one of the houses nearby the Sheriff´s Office.  
  
All those noises also reached the prison cell in the back part of the building representing law in the quickly growing city. But the young man sitting on the bunk and leaning against a wall didn´t seem to be hearing them, as his dark eyes were absent and distant.  
  
He couldn´t make himself care about the ominous sounds, even though each hit meant one step closer to his own death. Instead, he rather let his mind sink in memories. Some of them were painful, but he clung to them anyway. The images of the person he treasured the most were hidden deep inside of him, and he was sure they would never fade. Though, it was quite certain he wouldn´t have a chance to verify it, since the day after this night there was no future for him at all…  
  
Some wandering dog started barking furiously somewhere on the square, but he was silenced soon enough by a rough voice and hard boot. Once again, only the noises indicating the construction of the portable gallows ruled over the cool streets. He frowned nevertheless, as the barking reminded him of something he didn´t want to think about.  
  
A chair in the office on the other side of the short corridor creaked as the local sheriff – his main guard – tried to settle himself into more comfortable position. Harsh voices of the other guards pacing around the whole office building were heard under the tiny barred window, before they turned around the corner again.  
  
He didn´t want to listen to any of it. He just wanted to go back to his safe castle of memories. He searched for something he could catch on, until his eyes found three rectangles of bluish light on the dirty floor. It was the moon stretching its invisible fingers inside his jail through the window. It was not so long since the warm evening when they had watched the full moon together, before they got distracted by each other´s lips…  
  
The images of the past flooded him again, only this time it felt like they wanted to torture him. He couldn´t push that cruel realization back any longer. All those pictures in his mind were only his memories now; that person included in them was not around anymore…  
  
He let go of a shaky sigh and closed his eyes. That was why he was not scared of tomorrow, even though it was terrifying to know that soon, very soon, the firm snooze would steal his breath forever. There was also a good side to it. Not only that he could save his brother like that, the most important was that his miserable half-existence would be over as well. And maybe, if there was afterlife as some believed, or even the Eternal Hunting Grounds, maybe he would meet again with that person he loved more than anyone in his life…


	2. Back home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first proper chapter of the third part of my beloved AKame story... I know very well that I had just teased you with that "Prologue".  
> The story directly follows the last happenings of RW II. and we meet our guys just a few weeks later... Are you curious about what awaits them back in Montana?

**_Territory of Montana_ **

**_June 1882_ **

**H** e almost did it, but in the very last second, that stupid piece of wood from the top of pile in his arms fell off and – naturally – hit his knee on its way down to the floor. Not to mention two other pieces, which it dragged along.

“Damn it,” Juri hissed throwing the rest of his load in a wicker basket next to the stove.

“Language, young man,” his mother, who had just finished preparing some dough in a huge ceramic bowl, scolded him immediately.

“Sorry, Mum,” he mumbled, not feeling any remorse at all, and picked up that three-time-damned wooden log to add it to its pals in the basket. If only his mother had a clue that even younger kids in town knew and also used much worse words. And he was already twelve, anyway, so he could…

“Juri, bring the rifle.”

Already halfway out of the kitchen, Juri turned surprised. Mother was looking out the window, wiping her hands with the towel hastily. Only then he realized hearing furious barking of their dogs outside. Making two quick steps, he peeked out from another window, but he didn´t see anyone, so the unknown threat had to be down on the driveway under the hill, on which their ranch was built.

Mother glanced back at him: “Quickly!”

Seeing her expression, Juri didn´t ask any questions and rushed to the cabinet in their living room. It was always kept unlocked, but he wouldn´t dare to open it without his mother´s permission. Swiftly, but carefully, he took the rifle from its hook and grabbed the box of bullets.

Juri met his mother in the shady corridor and handed the weapon over. She wrapped the barrel and started loading the rifle skillfully.

“Now hide in the kitchen until I call you, all right?” she ordered, putting the rest of bullets inside the pocket of her apron.

“But, Mum! I can…” he tried to protest.

“Do as I said,” she interrupted him strictly. “Go.”

It had always been like this. No matter what danger they had to face, his mother always protected him and his brothers first. Even though he was not that small anymore and he could help.

Juri pretended to close the kitchen door behind him, but he just waited until the hinges of the main entrance creaked and he was back in the corridor right away, sneaking after his armed mother.

*

It was such a nice place to look upon.

The neat wooden building located on the small hill above the artificially created pond, with a few fruit trees around, and with the bluish mountains in the background.

The bigger surprise it was when the front door of that peaceful house opened violently, just when they dismounted. A quite dangerously looking woman with an impressive rifle in her hands appeared on the end of the narrow path up to the house they intended to take.

“Hands up!”

She was rather small, her dark brown hair in a neat bun, and she had a kind, round face, but the woman´s words and eyes were not friendly at all. It was obvious that playing around with her was not an option…

*

Juri peeked out behind the door, but he couldn´t see on whom his mother was aiming from there. He tiptoed down the veranda to crouch behind the rose bushes and the unexpected visitors finally came into his view.

First of all, his eyes were attracted to the sharp contrast of black stallion and white mare, which were standing next to each other so naturally as if they were siblings. Which was not possible, that much Juri knew about horses. They were too different. They also remained obediently calm, when their masters let go of their reins, following his mother´s order and raising their hands up in the air.

The white beauty belonged to the slim youngster with disheveled hazelnut hair, who whispered something to her when she nudged his shoulder from behind. The dark lord of horses, as that was like that stallion looked like to Juri, snorted in the ear of the other man. He was obviously a gunslinger, with the overflow of pitch-black hair, which his mother would definitely considered as overgrown. His master just rolled his eyes, but didn´t dare to make any suspicious movement to get away from his sneaky horse under the threat of Juri´s mother´s rifle.

A little behind them, there was a figure with long, long hair which made Juri´s jaw drop. Leather clothing, a huge bow and quiver with arrows, countless amulets hanging on the wide chest and very serious expression – he was the most impressive Indian Juri ever saw and he had seen a few already. The last one of these four incomers was somebody in dark clothes, with a strange color of his hair, which not even a huge hat could hide. And this stranger was the only one who didn´t raise his hands and a weird smile appeared on his lips.

“That´s how you welcome a lost son, Mother?”

Juri´s mother frowned in disbelief, but he recognized that voice right away. How could he ever forget? It belonged to the only one from his older brothers who didn´t used to chase him away, when he wanted to join them on their trips to the woods or town. He jumped up excitedly.

“Put it down, Mum! Put it down!” Juri called as he rushed around her and then down the road. “That´s Koki!”

In that moment, the blonde visitor pulled his hat back and revealed a face of his brother.

“At least somebody remembers me,” Koki Tanaka grinned.

*

Kame considered the situation to be safe only after the mouth of that huge rifle was aiming down to the ground, though the lady of the house still seemed to be more suspicious than happy. Jin and Liwan followed his example in letting their hands down again.

The kid, who screamed before, rushed to their blonde companion so vigorously that he tumbled the older one down and they rolled in the grass now, trying to tickle each other to death.

He couldn´t help but smile at the happy reunion and Jin was amused as well. Only Liwan´s usual composure wasn´t influenced by the situation, as the shaman eyed the whole surroundings thoroughly, probably looking out for more hostile inhabitants.

“I almost didn´t recognize you, squirt,” Koki ruffled the boy´s hair happily, after they got bored of the tickling battle, and he helped the younger one back to his feet.

His brother puffed up his cheeks: “I´m not a squirt anymore!”

“Of course you are… No matter how tall you become,” the blonde one reacted rather softly and with an arm around the younger Tanaka´s shoulders, he turned to the woman still standing above them.

“Hi, Mum,” he smiled a little sheepishly.

“Koki…” Mrs. Tanaka breathed out.

The blonde Rider moved and approached his mother with a few long steps: “I´m back,” he announced the obvious fact.

Mrs. Tanaka did not move for a while, and just stared in her son´s face. Then, the sound of a heavy slap cut through the special atmosphere, making Koki´s head flinch to the side. His companions exchanged confused looks, while Koki´s mother dragged her younger son Juri away from the older one with a rough move.

“You´ve got the nerves to show yourself up like this?!” she snapped at stiffened Koki. “After how you ran off?!”

“Mum… I…” the blonde one blabbered.

“Shut it! I don´t want to hear any excuses!”

“What about an apology?” Koki reacted feebly.

Mrs. Tanaka kept silent for a long moment, before she suddenly pulled Koki into her arms, hugging him firmly.

“You stupid, stupid brat,” she complained loudly, while pressing the blonde one to herself so hard, he almost could not breathe. “Just where did you roam?”

For understandable reasons, Koki didn´t react and just circled both arms around his mother wordlessly.

Kame turned away to pat strangely nervous Ukushi. It was nice to see Koki back with his family, but at the same time… He needed to focus on something else, not to allow the envy to take over him. Koki had someone to come back to, unlike himself…

Jin shook his head a bit and chuckled: “I´d say it´s pretty sure this _is_ his family.”

“Absolutely,” Liwan agreed all dignified.

*

After welcoming her son, the fearless rancher lady´s eyes focused on three other visitors and her expression stiffened again.

“Your friends?” she asked, eying one after another.

“You can bet, Mum! Let me introduce…”

“They´re most welcomed here,” Mrs. Tanaka interrupted her son. “But not that Indian.”

Her voice was loud enough to reach them. The Indian shaman preserved his cool, unreadable expression, but Kame frowned. Seeing that, Jin knew that he could forget about some hot homemade meal and a roof above his head for the night, for which he had hoped.

“You don´t have to be afraid, Mum. Liwan is a friend,” Tanaka spread his arms in a reassuring gesture.

“No Indians in my house,” his mother emphasized her decision harshly, before turning on her heels.

Koki watched her departure rather surprised, before he turned to that lively kid: “What´s up with her? Mum had never been so hostile…”

But his younger brother just shook his head and to the blonde one´s surprise, he made a step back: “You should ask Mum, Koki.”

“It´s all right,” expectably, at least to Jin, Kame´s voice cut in. “We´ll just wait for you off your family´s lands.”

Koki turned to them hastily and Jin suppressed a sigh. Serious Kame was already getting himself back in the saddle, as well as Liwan. Only he remained standing on his own two feet yet, not much surprised, just a bit annoyed.

Koki rushed down the road: “I´m sorry, Bear. I didn´t expect that my mother would be…”

“I am not insulted,” the shaman interrupted him calmly.

“But still…” the blonde Rider didn´t want to give up.

“It will be better if you catch up with your family without us around anyway,” Jin put himself in the way of Koki´s words this time. “Don´t you think?”

Koki sighed, seeming to be really sorry that the welcome at his home didn´t go the way he imagined: “All right… But don´t go too far. I don´t want to search for you in the prairie.”

Kame nodded, while also Jin dragged himself up on Kuro´s back swiftly: “Don´t worry. We will encamp at that brook we passed on the way here.”

***

Even though Koki was a bit pissed at first, that Mother practically chased his friends away from the door, he was grateful for the other three not being there later.

He didn´t expect any fireworks for the celebration of his return, but his dear mother behaved too detached even for his pessimistic expectations. She didn´t want to speak with him and almost threw him out of the house instead, ordering him with more or less reasonable tasks in the stables and on currently empty fence. She didn´t even let Juri help him out with it and kept him by her side in the kitchen.

He was rightfully upset, but still, he didn´t dare to oppose her as deep inside, there was this black guilt reminding him that maybe, even though he didn´t do anything bad at his arrival, he deserved such a treatment anyway.

Koki didn´t get any proper explanation for his mother´s behavior until the evening, when she sent Juri to fetch him for dinner.

*

He stared at four empty chairs for a while, before he turned to hypnotize his mother, who was sitting at the head of the long, oak table. She didn´t endure his look without reaction for long.

“Eat before it gets cold,” she reminded him without raising her eyes from the table. To be noted, she was not eating either, just sipping on some tea.

“Where are the others? At the pastures?” Koki asked, not even glancing at his plate, though the pork cutlet was surely even tastier than he remembered it used to be.

“Yes,” there was a brief reply.

Koki clenched his fingers around the fork, but didn´t dig in yet. He was wondering just how to make his mother at least look at him.

“We thought they´ll be back today,” Juri dared to include himself in their non-existing conversation.

Somehow relieved, Koki looked at his younger brother and attempted for an encouraging smile: “Something held them up probably. It happens all the time, right?”

“I know,” Juri nodded, his face brightening suddenly. “But I´m soooo looking forward to see their faces, when they find out you´re here, Bro!”

Koki chuckled: “Well, I´m not _so_ excited about it, but sure – I´ll be happy to see them all. But… What about Subaru? Is he not hungry?”

Juri´s smile disappeared at once and their mother stiffened. Koki eyed both of them carefully. He knew now. Something happened while he was gone. Something bad.

He put the fork aside and straightened in his chair, gathering courage to ask.

“I haven´t even seen him since I had arrived… Where is he, Mother?”

Juri looked like he was about to cry. That sight was almost worse than any words.

Taking a deep breath, Koki reached out, quickly, so that his mother couldn´t pull away and caught her wrist.

“Mum,” he urged quietly. “What happened?”

Finally, the woman´s eyes met with her son´s. There was nothing of that previous stubborn stiffness left; she looked just as shaken as Juri now.

“He´s gone, Koki,” Maria Tanaka forced the words through her throat, the suppressed tears making her eyes shine and turning Koki´s heart in a painful lump somewhere in his stomach.

Subaru was his youngest brother, a little sickly, but persistent and cheerful. He could be about eight if he remembered correctly. His most difficult tasks would be carrying the pieces of wood around or helping their mother in the kitchen. There was no way he could do anything too dangerous…

Suddenly, Mother squeezed his arm with both her hands so firmly it hurt.

“It was those red devils,” she breathed out hatefully. “If not for them… I let Subaru watch the herding of cattle. Just once. He begged me so much… And they… they attacked our ranch back then. The herd ran wild and my baby boy fell from the fence and…”

The tears were running down the woman´s cheeks, as Koki watched his mother in horror.

“They trampled him down to the ground,” Juri´s weak voice only added to the heavy atmosphere. “Their hooves… they were so loud that… That I didn´t even hear him… screaming…”

Maria covered her mouth with one of her palms, as if she tried to hide her face. Her eyes were so wide it made Koki think that she hadn´t even known about Juri seeing that accident. He gulped heavily and reached toward Juri, gesturing gently: “Come here, squirt…”

His little brother stared at him, his eyes glistering with tears, before he jumped off the table so vigorously that his plate almost overturned. And then he was there, hiding himself in Koki´s arms, sobbing hopelessly.

Koki stroked Juri´s hair soothingly with one hand, while reaching out for his mother´s once again.

“I´m sorry… I´m so sorry,” he couldn´t help but repeating, even though he knew there was nothing he could do to make up for not being there for his family, when they needed it.

***

The stony and bleak bank of the wide stream wasn´t making any pleasant impression, but the omnipresent stones were gradually warmed up by the rising sun and tens of birds in tree tops on the opposite side of the brook held a cheerful orchestra since the very morning. Which was not welcomed by Jin much, as he didn´t seem to sleep well during the night, and those feathered musicians didn´t let him catch up on it.

Kame managed to improve the older one´s mood a little with breakfast, but still, they were waiting for their blonde companion to appear in a somewhat non-talkative atmosphere, until shortly before noon…

*

His companions chose a nice, sunny spot near the rushing water for the temporary camp. It was not hard to find them. Koki just followed the thin smoke, until he spotted their horses behind some spinney. All of them were already looking in his direction, even before he really got in sight. Liwan probably heard him coming.

Koki took a deep breath and raised his hand for a greeting. He tried hard, but his real mood happened to be obvious to his friends anyway…

“It didn´t go well?” Kame asked as the first carefully, when he sat down to join them at the modest fire.

“You hit the bull´s eye,” Koki murmured sadly, not having strength to deny it, after the long night, which he spent staring at the ceiling of the room he used to share with his brothers. With all five of them…

“Bad news?” there came a quiet guess.

“Yeah…” Koki nodded heavily. “But there´s nothing I can do about it.”

He knew they were looking at each other, probably trying to figure out if it was worth asking more questions, but he kept his eyes only on the small flickering flames.

“Can we help?” once again, it was Kame who spoke. Koki expected nothing else.

“No,” he gave him a grateful look. “But… There´s something I need to ask of you, guys.”

“So, out with it,” Jin, studying Koki´s face, encouraged him.

“Well… Except Juri, whom you saw yesterday, I have… three more brothers. They should return with the herd to the ranch today. And I…”

“You´d like to see them too, right?” Jin completed him without hesitation.

The blonde one nodded: “I don´t want to hold you back for too long. If you could just wait a bit…”

Liwan didn´t seem to be very inclined to the proposal, but Koki could never tell what the Indian shaman really thought. Surprisingly, it felt like moody Akanishi was the most sympathetic with him, and also Kame looked at him all serious and assuring.

“Don´t worry, Koki. Our journey so far was quite quick, so… One day of rest in the town won´t harm any of us,” he assumed.

“More like the opposite,” Jin joined him helpfully. “One more day in the saddle and my ass will turn to stone,” he complained.

Koki chuckled and Liwan gave Akanishi an unreadable look, while Kame continued, without paying attention to his boyfriend.

“We´ll wait for you,” the youngest of their travelling group stated firmly. “But only if you really want to continue with us.”

That statement surprised Koki. He hadn´t really considered any other option so far. He wanted to see his family and give them something from his profit share of their successful mission against Tabor, but… He hadn´t even thought about staying home. There were reasons for why he had left and they wouldn´t disappear so easily. Even though… that was before he knew about Subaru and about the current situation on Tanaka´s ranch.

“Of course, I do!” he reacted, a bit upset that Kame would have doubted his promise, suppressing his own hesitation. “Why would I…”

“We wouldn´t be surprised if you wanted to stay with your family now,” Jin interrupted him in a tone, about which Koki didn´t know the older one could use towards him. And it stole him of words. He didn´t tell them what happened, but somehow, they figured it was serious.

“You helped us enough on the way here. You do not have to feel obligated,” finally also Liwan cut in seriously, surprising him even more.

“It´s not like that…” Koki reacted feebly, but didn´t know what else to say.

Kame sighed, reached out and squeezed his shoulder: “Go home, say hello to your brothers, think it through and meet us in Billings tomorrow. Either to continue with us to Bozeman or to say goodbye and stay here. Any of it will be all right to us.”

Koki stared at that incredible man for a while. How came that Kame understood what feelings he was fighting with? And neither Jin nor Liwan seemed to be upset. However, it was not so unexpected. Somehow, he knew already back then in Colorado, that they were about to become his true friends, but only at this moment, Koki was willing to admit it.

“Thanks, guys,” he made himself react finally.

“Nothing to thank for,” Kame assured him.

“Great!” Jin almost literally jumped up on his feet, disrupting the atmosphere. “To the civilization then! Billings is about two hours of ride from here and I can´t wait to have a bath and at least three beers!”

Koki couldn´t help but smirk: “Kind of spoiled, aren´t you? I´m so _not_ surprised about your reasons to be excited about this delay. You´ve been a riding complaint past few days.”

With his expression switching to a very dangerous one right away, Jin stabbed the blonde one with his eyes. It didn´t surprise Koki at all, no matter how long they traveled together, Akanishi was still sensitive to his innocent, or not so innocent, remarks.

“Go to solve your own business, or I might think twice about this, Tanaka,” the older one informed him stiffly.

“Oh, sure, sure,” Koki straightened up, in a much better mood, but their Indian friend´s situation still bothered him a bit. “Bear… Is it really fine with you? I know you want to hurry back to your red brothers…”

Liwan returned his serious look and to Koki´s great relief, he nodded: “Yes, Kame is right. We all need some rest, including our animals.”

“Fine. Then… See you tomorrow!”

***

Billings was definitely not what Jin remembered it to be.

When he had left the area with Captain Walker to search for his brother Leo, the railway construction was just a tale of the future. Now, a half year later, the infamous ´Hell on Wheels´, the nomadic settlement of travelling houses, saloons and brothels had already moved on from the town, to the next destination in Laurel, following the Northern Pacific Railway further to the west. The Iron Horse was advancing and leaving behind tons of new houses, establishments, shops and pubs. In case of Billings, also a quite impressive Christian church was built in the city center, as well as the new Railway Headquarters Hotel and two stations, which basically made up the heart of the new city. The Magic City – that´s how it was called by immigrants, who were amazed by the fact how fast it grew to its glory.

Nothing seemed to be in its previous place and Jin would have had problems to find his own old house, if he had bothered searching for it, which was definitely not the case. Breaking through the crowd on Minnesota Avenue, he had a full understanding for Liwan, who insisted on staying outside the city and encamped somewhere further on the road, letting two young gunmen enjoy this fuss by themselves.

Kame seemed to be dealing with the bustling city well. Definitely better than his Ukushi, as the mare was more nervous than usually, and she kept snorting and pulling at her reins. The younger one had to keep calming her constantly.

Noticing that, Jin in lead stubbornly searched for more peaceful part of the city. After what felt like eternity, they finally reached the older streets, which seemed familiar to him. They even managed to find his favorite saloon, which, to Jin´s great relief, still had the same owner. After a warm welcome and short negotiation, they could leave their horses in the stables behind Sammy´s Saloon for free, but they were not so lucky about the accommodation, as all rooms were occupied.

They decided to visit a barber first, before they would search for something else. They took more than enough money from their share of ´Tabor´s Money box´ to enjoy the comfort of civilization, so for once they could afford to pamper themselves.

*

Even though Jin didn´t cling on some excessive hygiene, he felt much better after an hour at the barber´s place, where he could get rid of dust, dirt and dark stubble. He agreed with Kame in advance to wait up at the outdoor café nearby, so he picked one of the neat tables under the shadow of a burly pine and ordered coffee at the young black waitress.

While waiting, he started to flip through the pages of the newest newspapers, one of many that could be borrowed from the stand as a part of café´s services. He got used to doing that every time they reached some bigger city and also this time, he was relieved only after he didn´t find his younger brother´s face or name anywhere in it. He felt unpleasant chills only from the last page, as there was a short list of wanted men of Montana Territory and a certain name was still among them…

“Anything new?” the owner of that pleasant voice sat down on the opposite side of his table.

Jin didn´t even raise his head; there was only one person who managed to sneak up to him unnoticed and it didn´t startle him even a bit.

“Nothing from Colorado, to my great relief,” he replied and sipped from his mug, still eying the wrinkled papers.

“What´s the frown for then?” his companion wondered.

“It´s just… Grenet´s still on the list,” Jin replied quietly.

There was a short silence.

“We didn´t exactly send the telegram about him to the Marshalls.”

“I know… But still – it gives me the creeps,” Jin put off the newspapers and searched for the waitress, thinking that he would welcome something stronger than coffee, when his eyes finally fell upon his lover.

“You cut your hair?!”

Kame blinked, probably surprised at his tone: “Well… Yes, a bit. I let the barber do it since I was there.”

“Why?” Jin pouted.

The younger one raised his eyebrows: “Do I need a reason to?”

Jin reached for his coffee again, not replying.

“You don´t like it?” Kame asked kind of amused now.

He looked at his boyfriend thoughtfully again. No, that wouldn´t be the truth.

Kame´s brown hair was covering his forehead and half his ears, the short strands somehow straggly back on his neck. He looked older than with that slapdash ponytail he used to create on their journey and it also made him kind of... manlier. But not even a bit less handsome. Though he might miss running through those long strands with his fingers during their… private moments. Before, there was more to grip if he didn´t want to let Kazuya move away.

Then Jin realized that the younger one was waiting for his reply with a somehow too confident smile. Well… He had more than enough self-confidence as well. The long hair or short, he was able to make this attractive young man moan either way.

“I guess I´ll get used to it,” he assumed soberly and waved to attract the waitress´ attention. “A beer, please, if you have it on the menu.”

“Right away, Mister,” the girl nodded with a small smile.

“Make that two, please,” Kame joined him.

“Isn´t it too early for you and alcohol?” Jin teased him, when the waitress disappeared in the small stall, which was providing the refreshments for the whole café.

“About as early as for you having perverted ideas,” Kame countered.

At first, Jin thought about playing an innocent one, but then he noticed warm shine in the younger´s eyes. He couldn´t fool Kazuya, obviously, but neither the younger one could fool him.

He shifted the empty coffee cup out of way, so that he could lean his elbows over the table, looking closely into his boyfriend´s eyes.

“It´s never too early to make you moan my name,” he said so quietly that only Kame could hear it.

A playful smirk somehow darkened the younger one´s face, but Jin liked that: “That sounds like a challenge.”

“It is,” he confirmed in a deeper voice.

“I´m not afraid to accept it… Later,” the teasing response came.

Being aware of their surroundings, they pulled back to their chairs, to let the black girl serve them with beers.

“And here I thought you´d be up to try something new,” Jin continued as if they were not interrupted, before he reached for the desired drink.

Kame sipped on the bitter liquid as well, not ever letting his eyes from Jin.

“You mean something like… sex in public?” he suggested huskily.

“For example,” Jin shrugged with a pretended ease.

“That´s not on my list,” Kame reacted calmly.

Jin eyed his boyfriend rather interested: “This is the first time I hear about any list.”

“Naturally. It´s a private one,” the younger one informed him with a provocative smile.

They kept looking at each other for a while in keen silence.

“Did I manage to make anything of that list come true?” Jin asked then.

This time, it was Kame who leant over the table forward to him: “Definitely.”

Jin almost choked on his beer, when Kame licked his lips before saying that. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the café, he drank almost the whole beer at once and cleared his throat: “I think that we really need some place for overnight.”

“I can only agree,” Kame smiled in a way which made him smile back.

*

When the young serving girl managed to return to the table in the shadow, with those so handsome customers, she found only empty glasses. She got scared at first, worried that she had let somebody flee without paying again, but then she found more than enough coins on the table. The visitors were gone, but they were decent enough to pay for their drinks. Smiling satisfied that she didn´t misjudge them, the girl started cleaning the table for other customers.

*

They were not lucky.

It seemed that everybody from twenty-mile-radius came to Billings to see the new railroad station or something, as the hotels and saloons were completely full. There were two places, where they were offered with an available room, but for such an exaggerated price, that they declined them right away.

Quite tired, they rather sat in one neat restaurant for early dinner and in unspoken amazement, they watched the fuss on the street. The owner of the refreshment establishment was a sturdy, gray-haired lady, who watched over each meal herself. As a result, they haven´t eaten so well in a very long time. They had only limited supplies on the road, so the feast they received there was a pleasure for their stomachs. They were leaving the old lady´s place a few dollars poorer, but more than satisfied.

Agreeing on that they would be fine to get some sleep even in the stables with their horses, they decided to set off back to Sammy´s Saloon. Only when they tried to get to the main square, they noticed something was off, as the city center was overcrowded with people, who were not rushing anywhere for a change. The citizens stood on the spot and chatted, obviously waiting for something, making the way through the square literally impossible.

Before Jin or Kame realized it, there were more people even behind them and they had nowhere to move without literally fighting their way through the crowd. They exchanged confused looks, and then Kame turned to the tall lady on his right.

“Excuse me, Madame. Can you tell us what this gathering is about?”

The woman stopped waving herself with folded newspapers and looked at Kame: “Public punishment, young man. Just wait and see. Everybody should see it, it´s a good lesson,” she informed him haughtily.

Before Kame could ask anything more, there came a buzz through the crowd, as there was some movement from one side of the square and it proceeded to another, further away from them.

Next to the brand new hotel, which hadn´t been opened yet, there was a couple of lonely trees, which survived the growing construction of new houses on the opposite side of the square. It seemed that a small group of men was heading right toward that spot. Kame and Jin couldn´t see well from so far away, so only after the ropes were hang over the lowest branches, with wide loops in their ends, they finally understood.

Five men in shabby clothes and huge hats dragged two youngsters there and made them face the gathered people. One of the self-called judges, because as far as they could tell, none of the executioners had any star on their cloaks, was telling something to the crowd, but they couldn´t hear him through the growing noise. The spectators were throwing insults and curses on the two criminals, as those men put the nooses around their necks and without any unnecessary delay pulled their bodies up in the air…

*

Jin was kind of disgusted and baffled about the situation. It definitely _wasn´t_ any usual performing of justice. There was no judge, no soldiers, no Sheriff, no man of law whatsoever, but the cheering crowd didn´t seem to mind it much.

Even from that distance he could tell that those two were very young, probably even younger than Kame, and scared to death. One of them cried and begged; the other just waited for his fate with his head lowered. Jin didn´t know what serious crime they had committed to deserve such punishment, but it just didn´t feel right.

Kame probably thought the same, as his face was pale and expression stiff. Then the younger one turned to the cocky lady one more time. In that horrible whistling, yelling and mockery mess around Jin could catch neither the question nor the reply, which was quite long. He wanted to ask Kame about it, when his boyfriend suddenly grabbed Jin´s elbow, his eyes wide and dark.

“Let´s go…”

Jin more read the words from Kame´s lips than heard them, but seeing his face was enough. He just nodded and beat Kame in making their way through the crowd.

By the time they were out of the worst hustle, Jin was really sick of people and quite relieved to find an almost empty street, which would lead them back to the old part of the town. They got to be really alone only when they reached the worn-out bridge. Kame stopped there, looking at the cheerful river.

Jin scanned their surroundings, realizing that the sun had already set down and with the upcoming dusk, the city was calming and the streets emptying. He slowly approached his silent lover and placed a hand on his lower back, feeling that Kame needed some assurance.

“What was that about?” Jin asked carefully, studying the younger one´s face.

Keeping his eyes on the running water, Kame took a breath: “I asked that woman what crime those two committed…”

“What was it?” Jin asked again, having a bad hunch about the reason of the other´s sudden gloominess. “Tell me.”

Kame turned to face him, at the same time stepping back and widening the distance between them.

“It was sodomy. She said they caught them up in bed together.”

Jin returned the younger one´s serious look speechless. What the hell happened with his hometown? As far as he recalled, nobody in Billings ever cared about the privacy of others to that extent. Stuff like that was just a good gossip material for harlots in saloons. And now they… they killed people for it?

Kame made for a quite miserable and creepy smile: “I know what you´re thinking, Jin. Yes, obviously just that is enough for those vigilantes to hang them.”

Jin couldn´t figure out anything clever to say; the situation like this was just too incredible for him to accept it.

“I… I read something about continuous lynching over here in newspapers, but I didn´t think it would be this bad,” he breathed out in the end.

“Me neither,” Kazuya reacted sadly.

Jin was looking in the eyes of his dearest friend and lover, suddenly feeling an urge not to spend even one night in that _awfully awesome_ Magic City. It seemed that sometimes, the mountains, awful weather and night cold in the prairie were much safer environment…


	3. Then and now

**T** he river was free along its entire, hundreds-mile-long flow, either as it cut through steep-walled canyons, rushing and sparkling in numerous waterfalls, or when it broadened down in the valley, to take a lazy path through fertile lands further to the northeast. The unstoppable water was rather calm in the creek south of the so-called Magic City, which served as a meditation spot for a certain serious Indian of the Blackfeet tribe.

Liwan was sitting on the grassy shore with his eyes closed and listened to the nature surrounding him. The soft wind playing with dry leaves and high grass, the river sending thousands of waves against stones, which dared to protrude above its surface, an eagle shrieking high above his head, searching for a prey, a fox sniffing around some abandoned bird´s nest…

Manitou was all around, maintaining the balance of everything dead or alive. The motionless shaman was seeking his own composure in that balance, trying to hush worries in his mind. His inner voice kept reminding him every day that he had been away from his family, from his brothers and sisters for too long already.

If anything bad happened in the reservation while he was gone, it would have been Manitou´s will as well and he could do nothing about it, Liwan knew. Nevertheless, that knowledge didn´t chase away the uneasiness in his heart.

Still lost deep in his meditation, he only faintly heard a snorting of his horse, and yet, it dragged him back, closer to reality. So far distant, but well-known voices indicated the arrival of three men. The loudest one was certainly the kind-hearted blonde Rider. Another belonged to Liwan´s dearest blood brother and the last one to his moody soulmate...

His friends came. Even though none of them had the blood of his ancestors in their veins, apart from gratitude, Liwan felt a certain affection towards them, just as towards his red brothers. When looking back, he was glad they all decided to accompany him on the way to Montana. Even with those three around, he still worried about his tribe, but he was not lonely.

Taking a deep, slow breath, Liwan deliberately escaped from the flow of his thoughts. Sometimes, his thinking got too emotional while he meditated, and that was not the purpose of it.

The shaman opened his eyes only when he was sure that he had found and gripped his serenity again. He stood up and his look was subconsciously attracted to the west. He was so close to his tribe now. Just a few more days, maybe a week of travel at the most and he would be back home. He knew that only then his worries would finally disappear.

Somehow reconciled with the current situation, Liwan collected his fish catch from the ground, pulled apart the bushes, which covered him on the river bank and followed the sound of voices. Only then, he realized that his companions were back a way sooner than he had expected.

It was surely his blood brother, who managed to find Liwan´s temporary camp in the small lee behind trees and rocks, not too far from the road, which was still marked with tracks of many wheels and hooves after the move of Iron Horse´s construction. Though, also young Tanaka accompanying Kame and yawning Akanishi was a little surprising to Liwan. He thought that the Rider would like to spend more time at his birthplace.

They spotted the shaman´s arrival when he was just a few feet away. That was enough to let him know that none of them was their usual self…

“Bear! Hi!” Koki was the first one to greet him with a teasing wink. “Missed us?”

Liwan put four fish aside on a flat stone and sat down gracefully, before he replied: “No complaints, no arguments, no stupid ideas, just wind and river in my ears… It was such blessing I cannot describe it in Palefaces´ language properly.”

Kame seemed to be too focused on pampering Ukushi with a brush and Akanishi gave the Indian just one annoyed look, before he fed his stallion another apple. Only the blonde one stared at him with his jaw dropped for a few seconds, before a rather insulted expression contorted his rounded face: “That was not nice of you, red man.”

“Do you deserve me to be nice?” Liwan raised one of his eyebrows questioningly, pulling the knife out of its sheath on his belt to clean the fish.

“Of course we do!” Koki exclaimed. “Guys! Say something! Our shaman is rude!”

But Tanaka was alone in this, Liwan could see that. Both his blood brother and Akanishi were obviously all clean and shaved and even cut as they desired, but there was something stiff in their expressions. The reason of that was a mystery to Liwan, as well as to Tanaka, who seemed quite outraged that they didn´t react.

“Fine! It seems I must be nice enough for all of you,” Koki announced haughtily.

“Should we understand it that we´ll be finally free of your annoying presence?” only now Akanishi decided to involve with the blonde one, a teasing smirk playing on his lips.

“Dear Jin,” the Rider sighed theatrically. “I know you like me, you don´t have to try so hard to cover it up.”

While Jin just snorted scornfully, Kame finally reacted to Koki´s statement as well, with an amused smile brightening his face: “I´m amazed by your unsound self-confidence.”

“I´m too amazing, I know,” the blonde Rider grinned. “That´s why I won´t deprive you of my precious company.”

“You decided to continue with us then?” Liwan commented, focused on not changing his calm expression.

“Sure! I´ve had enough of family reunions for a year in advance at least!”

The blonde one´s expression was cheerful, but Liwan suspected it was too forced. And seeing the barely hidden gloominess of the other two, he had a feeling that a short delay could be kind of useful. At first, he thought about taking his catch along on the journey, but now he reconsidered.

“No expressions of joy?” Koki looked from one to the other baffled. “I´m sure you´re damn happy, but you don’t know how to express it, right?”

At the moment, Liwan was willing to let him think that, so he didn´t react. Akanishi just rolled his eyes.

“It´s not so late yet, so… Do you want to continue today?” as almost always, Kame was the one thinking practically, when he turned to face Liwan.

“If it´s all right for you, then yes,” Liwan replied, already spiking all trout with the sharp long sticks he made the previous evening. “We can set off after we eat these.”

*

The fish meat didn´t need much heat to be done, so Kame kept the fire only low. He was watching over two trout, while Liwan did the same opposite to him. Jin was focused on disassembling and cleaning of his revolvers. No matter that he didn´t need to use them for a while, it was a necessary task anyway.

Kame´s look fell upon their blonde companion, whose behavior turned very quiet, after they all gathered around the fire. He hesitated for a while, but in the end, he considered it worth trying.

“So… What about your brothers, Koki?” he asked. “Did you manage to meet them?”

The blonde Rider´s eyes raised to him, before they turned to the flickering flames again.

“Yes, I did…”

The silence after this response was so long, that Kame had already thought the blonde one wouldn´t add anything else, when Koki finally continued.

“I was not meant for that, you know?” he sighed, observing his nails now. “For cattle ranching.”

“Has it always been your family business?” Jin asked curiously as he put one of the revolvers aside, his tone lacking any mocking for a change.

“Yeah,” Koki nodded. “Ever since my grandparents moved to this area. But I´ve always hated it,” he threw some short stick he had found under his leg into the flames. “Don´t get me wrong, I like animals. I loved taking care of our dogs and I enjoy riding a horse more than anything else, but… It´s a hard work, accompanied by constant cows mooing, bulls bellowing, smell of manure and painful bruises.”

The other three kept silent now, watching the blonde one, who obviously stopped holding back and his speech acquired quite a bitter taste.

“My mother used to say I´m after my father in this. Too lazy, too dreamy,” Koki chuckled sadly. “Well… She was right, at least partially. Most of all, I couldn´t bear the fact we didn´t get enough money for all that hard work. There´re many more ranches around and the competition is tough. Not to mention that ours is located on the borders with Indian territory, which had always meant never-ending troubles with them. No offense, Bear.”

Liwan only shook his head wordlessly.

“The situation got worse when my father had left… To chase after _his stupid golden dream_ , Mother said. We haven´t seen him in years; we don´t even know if he´s alive. Not that I´d care much,” Koki threw another stick into the fire.

Kame shifted their lunch further away from awakening flames.

“I was fed up with everything back then… So, when I met the Black Riders, it felt like a message from above. They helped me and one of my brothers deal with cattle thieves. I didn´t even know who they were at first, but they seemed so _free_ … I guess that´s what attracted me to them,” the blonde one assumed.

“Leo told me the same once,” Jin said in a moment of silence, looking pensive. “That he felt trapped in the city, working too hard for too little. The gang made him feel that he could actually do something about his life.”

“Exactly, that´s it. But…” Koki took a deep breath. “I know it was a selfish thing to do, to run off and leave my family to deal with all that shit themselves. But there were another five of my brothers and I knew they would help Mother with everything. They actually like what they do,” the blonde Rider was obviously trying to justify his decision, not realizing that he didn´t have to do that in front of them. “Anyway, I was always thinking I´ll come back with my pockets full of dollars and help them out the other way. And I tried… I… Damn it!” he cursed suddenly. “I wanted to give them my whole share!”

“That´s not little,” Jin reacted a little surprised. “What went wrong? You reconsidered?”

“No!” Koki snapped fiercely and pulled the nice stack of banknotes, which all of them carried well-hidden, sewn inside their coats, to the light. “They refused it!” the money ended up on the dry leaves, as the blonde one threw them there.

Jin raised his eyebrows confused, Kame seemed thoughtful and Liwan was patiently waiting for the rest of the blonde one´s story.

“I waited until everybody was at home. My brothers were glad to see me, at least they didn´t slap me like Mother did, but… Once I pulled out the money, they got upset. They forced them back to me, Mother cried and… I tried to explain it´s not from any filthy robbery, but they just didn´t listen.”

“And?” Kame encouraged suddenly sheepish Koki.

“My oldest brother, he… he said stuff about the Riders and I couldn´t hold myself back,” the blonde one admitted, seeming to be ashamed.

“You had a fight?” Jin figured.

“Yeah…”

“And then you left?” Kame guessed the rest.

Koki scratched his growing yellow hair a little desperately: “What else could I do? Obviously, I wasn´t welcomed…”

“I don´t think that´s the case, Koki,” Kame opposed him seriously.

The blonde one frowned: “What can you know? You weren´t there!” he snapped a bit again.

Kame wasn´t discouraged by his attitude: “I can imagine they wanted _you_ back, not your money.”

The other Rider stiffened and stared at him.

“They probably figured you´re leaving again, once you tried to give them your savings,” the younger one continued.

“But I…” Koki was still too subdued.

“I know you meant it well,” Kame assured him. “But try to take it from their side. For how long your family haven´t seen you? Two years?”

The Rider nodded wordlessly.

“Well, from what we could see, your mother and younger brother seemed to miss you dearly,” Kame reminded him softly.

The blonde one remained silent, looking somewhere between the trees.

“I think Kame´s right. I´d have been angry if Leo did something like that too,” Jin assumed.

Koki looked at the discarded stack of money, obviously a bit confused.

“So? You want to go back again?” Liwan asked calmly.

But the blonde one shook his head slowly: “No… Not right now, at least.”

“Are you sure?” Kame urged on him again.

Koki made for an anxious mile: “I´m not, but… I think it´ll be better to let the things cool down a bit, you know what I mean?”

“Even more than you think,” Jin sighed a little.

“All right,” Liwan reached with the baked fish on the stick toward him. “Let´s eat then.”

“Thanks for the patience, Bear,” Koki appreciated and not to burn his fingers, he carefully dragged one trout off it.

“What else can I do with you three?” the Indian reacted and bit into his meal right from the stick.

“Don´t put us all into one pocket!” Jin retorted, reacting to that. “Just that for once I know what he…!”

Kame placed another fish right in front of his nose, before the older one could continue.

*

They finished their modest lunch and prepared their horses for another journey quite quickly, but Liwan still didn´t like that weird atmosphere, which was not created solely by Tanaka´s family problem, but also by something unsaid. It was never a good sign when those two were so synchronously silent…

Therefore, when the blonde one and Akanishi left the camp to fill all their flasks with fresh water, he approached Kame, who was just altering the saddle on Ukushi, determined to find out what brought that worried look in the eyes of his blood brother.

“What happened in city, my Brother?”

Kame looked up to him somewhat alarmed and just that reaction was enough. Liwan already knew his instinct was right again and something was wrong.

“You seem bothered,” he urged on the younger one relentlessly. “Both of you. So, tell me.”

Kame returned his look for a moment, before he nodded: “You´re right, Liwan… As always. But let´s wait for the others. In the end, it´s something we all need to be aware of...”

*

“So, what is it?” the blonde one wondered, eyeing Kame first and then also Jin. “You didn´t like it in the city? I think it´s pretty awesome how big it got since the last time I had been there.”

“Yeah, I was quite impressed too,” Jin admitted. “But apparently, it has some… negative sides as well.”

“What do you mean?” Koki frowned, as did Liwan.

Kame and Jin exchanged one short look, before the younger one started talking.

“If you remember, during the past few weeks, several cases of lynching were mentioned in the newspapers. And those articles didn´t exaggerate stating that most of them occur in Montana.”

“We came across one just yesterday,” Jin noted darkly.

“What exactly that means? Lynching?” Liwan asked hesitantly. “I have an idea, but can you tell me clearly?”

“It´s an unlawful execution,” Kame explained. “Common people sentencing someone to death without a proper trial.”

“Mob rule,” the older one completed him. “I admit that sometimes, it has its purpose, but most of the time, it´s rather frightful.”

“I cannot agree more,” Koki also nodded. “A crowd of upset people is able to hang an innocent just to _achieve justice_. It almost happened to Leo once.”

“What?” Jin turned to him immediately.

“A long time ago, relax, Older Brother,” the blonde one assured him hastily, probably realizing he didn´t exactly need to mention something like that.

“But… White men have Sheriffs for judging. Why _they_ do not judge?” the Indian shaman asked, still a little confused.

Kame checked on frowning Akanishi, before he spoke again: “The railroad is pushing westward quite quickly and there are no resources for setting up a proper court or jail in each new city. And even if there _is_ a sheriff in town, it happens a way too often that people take justice in their own hands.”

“Which _is_ sometimes necessary.”

Once again, Kame´s eyes flinched to the older one: “I know, but that´s not the point now, right?”

“Just saying,” Jin reacted in a somewhat forcefully calm manner. “The two of us played the judges as well, didn´t we?”

“But not like this,” Kame opposed in the very same tone.

“Not like this,” the older one agreed seriously.

It took Liwan a while, but in the end, he figured those two probably remembered what they did with Math Grenet. It was not the same situation, not at all, at least to him, but they were still bothered by it.

Once they broke off their eye contact, Kame took a breath to continue.

“Anyway… There _was_ Sheriff in Billings, but he disappeared after the mob hanged his deputy, some black man. Nobody had applied for the position ever since,” he informed them rather gloomily. “We asked around a little and it seems that this lynching is focused mainly around Negros and Indians.”

“And harlots and nasty teenagers,” Jin grunted.

“We heard a lot more than we even wanted to about the previous cases from Jin´s acquaintance,” Kame added, when both Liwan and Koki stared at the older one quite horrified.

“Didn´t this buddy of yours overdrew it a bit?” the blonde one breathed out incredulously.

“He had no reason to lie,” Jin shrugged.

“This crazy lynching is nothing we can do a lot about, but… we just need to be careful, all right?” Kame urged. “If people around are so irritated, even a trifle can bring us many unwanted troubles.”

Liwan crossed arms on his chest: “I´m always careful around Palefaces; nothing changes for me.”

“Very careful,” Kame emphasized stubbornly.

“I hear you, Kame-chan,” Koki threw an arm around the younger´s shoulders. “And I promise I´ll be _very careful_. Satisfied?”

“It´s not a laughable matter, Koki,” the younger one said quietly, as he looked at the other´s grinning face and then he slipped away from his reach to mount Ukushi.

“You just worry too much!” the blonde Rider opposed. “It´s not like I´m always _asking_ for troubles!”

“That´s a relief,” Jin commented and followed Kame´s example.

Liwan hadn´t moved from the spot, and observed both of them sharply: “For once, I agree with Tanaka. You two are too serious about this. Why?”

Kame, already settled in the saddle, pressed his lips together and kept silent for a while, as well as Jin.

“We have a reason to take this seriously,” the young Rider replied finally and turned Ukushi away from them.

Akanishi patted his stallion, to make him stay still for a little longer and looked at both men on the ground: “Because apparently, now they hang people even for being in love,” he stated in a deep, emotional voice, which neither Liwan nor Koki expected, and left them standing there as well.

***

They continued their journey in the direction, where they could expect some lively activities soon, as they were approaching the current location of railway construction. Jin and Kame riding in the lead, not talking much; Liwan and Koki about half a mile behind them, on the contrary discussing something quite lively.

Kame really didn´t want to let that incident from Billings spoil the general mood of their little company or even his inner happiness from the simple fact that he was with Jin, which was still more than enjoyable. No matter that they didn´t have much privacy for themselves. But he couldn´t help it. The image of two young men´s bodies swinging in the air was persistently returning to him…

He glanced at Jin´s serious face half-covered in the shadow of his black hat. He could tell that Jin was trying to stay cool as well, even harder than himself. He didn´t want to let it get to them. After everything they have been through, they deserved some… peaceful time together, didn´t they?

But neither of them figured out yet how to cope with what they experienced in the city. The realization of just _how much_ they must be careful not to attract unnecessary attention was too cruel…

*

_“You keep thinking about it, don´t you?”_

_Kame opened his eyes, which he had pressed together so far, hoping for sleep to come. He knew that Jin was awake too. They were squeezed in the low haymaker above the barn, which belonged to Sammy´s Saloon. It was not completely dark there, as the lanterns´ light from the street was penetrating through the gaps between the boards, as well as the evening cold and drunken voices from the taproom. Not the most comfortable, but it was a dry place to sleep at, at least. They were lying close, but back to back with each other._

_“Yes,” he admitted heavily. His imagination was ruthless in that. It could have been the two of them on that tree so easily…_

_The hay rustled, as the gunslinger next to him moved, turning on his other side. There was a tense moment of silence, before the long fingers touched and then ran through his unnaturally short hair gently._

_“We´ll be out of here with the dawn…” Jin said softly._

_“Do you really think it will be better anywhere else?” Kame couldn´t help but raise the question._

_The movement in his hair stopped._

_“I dare to be optimistic,” the reaction came._

_Feeling his heart squeeze in a painful, but at the same time pleasant clutch, Kame turned on his back, to find the contours of Jin´s face and dark hair above him._

_“Can you share a bit of that optimism with me?” he asked whispering._

_“Sure, Kazu… I´ll gladly give you all of it,” Jin breathed out, before he leant down._

_Feeling the hot lips on his, caressing him without hesitation, spread warmness and relief in Kame´s stomach. Nothing changed on the way his handsome lover kissed him and even though he had no reason to doubt that, it made him feel grateful anyway._

_They had some moments for each other on the way up to the north, rushed kisses and whispered words, but it was far away from enough. Even though both Liwan and Koki knew about their relationship and accepted it, they couldn´t bring themselves to express their emotions freely in front of them. And there were not many comfortable places to hide from the others´ eyes._

_Kame buried his fingers in Jin´s hair eagerly, pulling him closer and repaying the kiss. He missed being in Jin´s arms and the loving connection only strengthened that emptiness which needed to be filled._

_Jin tore away from him only to slip under the younger one´s blanket and press himself against his body. Kame felt pleasantly warm right away, the butterflies flickering in his chest, his heartbeat getting faster. Only not safe... And his lover recognized his hesitation in another kiss._

_Jin pulled away and studied his face in the shadows for a while, before he reached for the button on Kame´s pants._

_“Don´t think about it,” he requested hoarsely._

_Kame felt his hand shaking a little, when he placed it on Jin´s face: “Then make me stop thinking…”_

_He almost hadn´t finished the sentence yet and there were already Jin´s fingers around his shaft, soothing it slowly, and kind of roughly. He repeated the movement, pulling an excited sigh from the younger one._

_“As you wish,” Jin whispered in his ear, before he used both hands to pull Kame´s pants out of the way._

_The breath got stuck in Kame´s throat when he realized that Jin was just as much desperate to stop thinking as himself. He already felt a hard bulge in the older one´s crotch, which was pressed against his thigh._

_Kame suppressed a heated moan, when one of those long, caring fingers headed for his sacred hole and entered it without hesitation. Jin captured his mouth again, teasing him with his tongue this time and waited until Kame eased up, before he started to move with his hand._

_Feeling the quickly rising excitement, Kame bit his lip and hastily reached for Jin´s trousers to get under them. He wanted to feel that hot hard pride again, which could make him forget, that what they were doing was hot and satisfying, but also damn dangerous…_

_“It´s up that ladder,” suddenly, a voice of the saloon´s owner was heard right under them._

_The eager hands stopped moving and the heated lips pulled apart._

_“Ok, thanks,” somebody replied yawning._

_“Shit…” a muted curse escaped the older one´s lips._

_“Find a free space, I´ve already got some guys there. And no smoking, or I´ll disembowel you both and feed you with your own intestines, got it?”_

_Kame felt as Jin´s grip around him strengthened for a moment, before the older one retreated, rolling away from him._

_“Understood, man… Understood,” some man mumbled heavily, probably quite drunk._

_Soon after that the partitions of the ladder up to the haymaker groaned under the weight of two new guests._

_Kame pulled his trousers and then also blanket back up to cover himself and looked at Jin, but the older one was already facing the wall again. He gulped down heavily, hopelessly trying to calm his pulse and arousal. It seemed that a long night awaited them…_

*

Returning to the presence on the stony and so far abandoned road to the west, Kame closed his eyes for a while, before turning them to his boyfriend again. He was definitely not the only one who didn´t get enough sleep during the night.

He couldn´t help but feel somewhat relieved that Jin still behaved as before though. It wouldn´t have surprised him if the older one wanted to keep some distance from him. So far, they had encountered only misunderstanding, not such hate as on that square. Anyone would have been frightened.

But Kame had to scold himself for expecting that Jin would react that way. He was braver, even more daring than himself. The truth was that _he_ was damn afraid now. Afraid of pulling Jin into a mess, from which there was no return…

“Kame… Why do I have a feeling there´re some stupid ideas on your mind?”

He looked away a little guiltily from Jin´s observing eyes. He shouldn´t have given in to the worries so easily.

“Do I need to remind you we´re in all of this together?” Jin´s voice was quite reproachful now.

Kame had to suppress a defeated sigh. His handsome lover was right. And he felt ashamed for having such doubts.

“I´m sorry…”

“That´s not enough.”

The sharp response made Kame pull on the reins lightly, to halt Ukushi´s steps. Kuro stopped right next to them, even before Jin managed to do the same.

Kame looked in those dark eyes for a while, before he grabbed the hem of Jin´s unbuttoned coat and roughly pulled him close. He gave him an urgent, hasty kiss.

“I´m sorry,” he repeated, still clutching his fingers around the rough cloth.

The older one smirked a little: “That´s better.”

Kame chuckled: “Aren´t you a little demanding?”

“I didn´t notice you mind it,” was Jin´s reply, before he was the one capturing his lips in a kiss, which stole Kame´s breath.

A loud whistle made them tear apart.

“Sorry, guys,” the blonde Rider, whose stallion had just trotted to their level, grinned. “You´re indeed adorable, but it seems we´ve got a small problem...”

Straightening in his saddle, Jin almost literally murdered him with his eyes, while Kame looked around, confused. Both Koki and Liwan were riding only a little behind them, but the Indian shaman was nowhere to be seen.

“What´s up?” frowning Jin hissed at the same moment, when Kame asked after his blood brother: “Where´s Liwan?”

“Bear noticed that someone´s following us,” Koki informed them and pointed at the sparse forest on their left side. “He headed back through that grove, not to be seen. He said we should stop for a pretended rest and stay focused. He will get that snooper from behind then.”

“Maybe it´s just somebody travelling in the same direction and Liwan creates fuss around nothing,” Jin assumed, obviously still annoyed.

“I guess we´ll find that out,” Kame noted, already looking around for a convenient spot. “Let´s use that lonely tree up there. If that person really isn´t interested in us, we´ll see him passing by.”

“Just great. Another day, another trouble,” Jin commented, but without any other complaints, he made Kuro go in the direction, which the younger one had suggested.


	4. One less

**T** he grass beneath him rustled as he carefully sneaked forward, relying mainly on his elbows and avoiding the fallen branches, which might have given his presence away. Finally hearing their voices, he remained motionless, not daring to proceed further. After a while, he slowly raised his head, peeking out between the high grass stalks and only then he could clearly see that his suspicion was right. There were only three men resting under the huge oak; the impressive Indian was nowhere to be seen.

He bit his lower lip wondering for what reason they stopped again so suddenly. Maybe he could try to sneak closer, to catch what they were talking about. But then he heard a soft snorting, which changed his mind – the black stallion´s head was turned in his direction.

Frowning, he decided to retreat to the grove, where he had hidden his pony, and wait for them to hit the road again. But before he managed to turn around, there was some sudden movement behind him and right after that, a strict voice was heard: “Pitsíksinaa! What a little snake we have here!”

He almost screamed in fear. Except wind and birds, he hadn´t noticed anything suspicious around at all, but still, somebody managed to creep up on him unnoticed.

Following his instinct of self-preservation, he jumped up on his feet, ready to dash away, but a strong hand gripped the collar of his worn-out coat from behind and directed him toward the oak instead.

“Little snake will be obedient or I will make sure that forest spirits punish him,” the tall Indian threatened him when he tried to fight back and escape.

With anxiety caused by that strange threat, he let the Indian lead him to the other three travelers, who were already on their feet and in case of the black-haired gunslinger, even with some awesome revolvers in his hands. Those guns were so impressive, beautiful and lethal at the same time that he forgot about his unhappy situation for a moment. But that was only until they started talking…

“ _This_ is our spy?” Jin snorted in disbelief, once Liwan dragged the boy close enough.

Koki´s jaw dropped as he stared at his small brother in shock, while Kame looked just relieved. Liwan pushed Juri Tanaka forward, so that the boy ended up in the middle of their circle now, without a slightest chance to run away.

“He is,” the Indian shaman nodded and crossed both arms across his chest in a kind of haughty gesture. “My eyes saw nobody else.”

Jin smirked at that: “I knew it – fuss about nothing,” he stated, hiding the revolvers back into their sheaths.

“It´s always better to be careful,” Kame reminded him and leant closer before he continued, more quietly, just for Jin´s ears: “Which is not exactly what we´ve been doing a while ago…”

“It was just an _innocent_ kiss,” the older one objected whispering.

For sure, there was something what Kame would like to reply, but he didn´t get the space for it, as the blonde Rider finally shook the first surprise off.

“What the hell are you doing here, Juri?!”

Hearing the upset voice of his older brother, the boy cowered, but pressed his lips together, not replying.

“Why did you follow me? Something could have happened to you!” Koki continued fuming. “Did you tell anyone at home you were leaving?!”

The boy´s expression turned even guiltier than it already was, when he shook his head shortly.

“Bloody hell! Mother must be freaking out by now!”

Juri lowered his head, probably only now realizing that his brother was right.

“I don´t think that screaming at him will solve anything, Koki,” Kame dared to involve himself carefully.

“And what will, smart one?!” the blonde Rider snapped at him angrily, for the first time ever at all, as far as Kame remembered, obviously still furious about his brother´s presence.

Both Jin and Liwan frowned in a strange unity, but didn´t say anything and Kame turned his attention to the gloomy boy instead of his upset brother.

“I must say you´re quite skilled to follow us so far, Juri,” Kame praised the boy calmly.

Juri Tanaka raised his widened eyes in surprise and the young Rider returned his look seriously. Koki was about to cut in with something again, but Kame continued right away: “You had a good reason to, right?”

Koki shut his mouth with an almost hearable clang of teeth and observed his brother suspiciously.

Juri bit his lower lip, hesitating for a second, before the words started to stream out of him as a waterfall: “Everybody at home thinks I´m still a kid! They don´t allow me to help with the herd! I can´t go to the city by myself! I can´t even listen when they have their adult talk! I don´t want to be there, Koki! Take me with you! I won´t be a burden, I promise! I can help with anything! Just don´t leave me here again!” Juri was out of breath, when he finished, his burning eyes staring up at the blonde brother.

Koki seemed to be stunned, Kame not so much, an amused understanding was plastered all over Jin´s face and Liwan was just observing the boy the same way as before, the least impressed of all.

“Please?” Juri almost sobbed.

Koki sighed, his anger long gone. He kneeled down on one knee and gripped both Juri´s slender shoulders: “Maybe you´re not a kid anymore, but you´re still too young, Juri. Our journey is dangerous and I can´t protect you all the time,” the blonde one spoke in a completely different tone now, calming and caring.

“I don´t need to be pro…”

“You do,” Koki interrupted Juri´s objection. “And it wouldn´t be a burden only for me, but also for my friends. Do you understand?”

The boy wanted to avoid his brother´s serious look, but Koki didn´t allow him to: “Do you understand?” he asked again.

This time, Juri nodded.

“Your place is home now, by Mother´s side, with our brothers,” Koki tossed his hair playfully.

Juri moved away from his touch suddenly: “But I want _all_ my brothers to be there! And Mum wants that too!”

The Rider´s expression saddened: “I´m really sorry about Subaru, Juri…”

Kame and Jin exchanged curious looks. Koki probably forgot to mention something in his previous narration.

“I don´t mean Subaru!” the boy burst out. “I know he´s gone now!”

“Then what…”

“Stupid Koki!” Juri snapped instead of a reply and turned his back on him. “You were always so stupid,” he mumbled angrily.

Koki straightened up: “Listen, kiddo, don´t think that…”

Kame grabbed the blonde one´s elbow, when he advanced forward, clearly upset again: “He means you, Koki,” he said in a calming tone.

Koki stared at him, then at Juri´s back for a while.

“Squirt…” he sighed. “You know what happened before I left. I can´t…”

The boy turned on his heel abruptly: “You were fighting all the time before! What´s the big deal now?!”

“That was different…”

“It wasn´t!”

Short, keen silence followed.

“Mum cried because of you. Again,” Juri blamed his brother then. “She wants you back, I know it! Kazunaru and Hyouga as well! Makio said you´re a coward, but he misses you too!”

Koki was really speechless this time. He probably didn´t expect such an emotional blackmail. Not from his younger brother. In that moment, it was already clear to Kame that Juri´s real intention wasn´t to join his brother, but to make him go back home. Judging his expression, Koki hadn´t realized it, but that didn´t matter at all…

“Won´t you come back to us?” Juri pleaded in the end almost tearfully.

Koki raised his look up to the sky, as if the heaven was supposed to give him an answer, while everybody else remained quiet, waiting for his decision.

“You don´t have to hesitate so much, Koki,” Kame decided to push the other one a bit in the direction he wanted to take, but didn´t have enough resolve to do it. “It´s not like we´ll consider you a traitor if you don´t go with us all the way to the reservation.”

A strange, soft chuckle escaped the blonde one´s lips.

“You always know what to say, Kame-chan,” he sighed, before he turned to his miserable brother again. “Well… I must accompany you back, that´s for sure. Mother would tear me to shreds, if I didn´t,” he noted kind of defeated, while Juri kept looking at him half-reproachfully, half-pleadingly. “And I guess…” Koki´s eyes turned to Kame. “I stay there for a while.”

The younger one smiled: “I think that´s the best you can do.”

“Damn,” Jin rolled his eyes. “If each decision took me so much time, I´d still be somewhere in the Rocky Mountains hunting a grizzly.”

“Shut up,” aggrieved Koki growled in his direction.

Jin grinned: “That´s usually _my_ line.”

“How can you bear with him, Kame?” quite reproachfully, Koki pointed his finger at the awfully satisfied gunslinger.

“I guess I got used to it,” Kame shrugged in response and winked at the older one, whose grin faltered a bit.

The little Tanaka rubbed his nose hastily: “Will you really return with me, Bro?”

Only now, Koki managed to put on a more cheerful expression: “I´ve just said it, haven´t I? Now go for that pony of yours or whatever you ride on, so we can set off.”

Juri nodded excitedly and in the blink of an eye he was gone, speeding through the grass field to the grove.

“…as I don´t want to delay my friends any longer,” Koki finished, focusing his attention on Liwan.

The Indian remained awfully quiet, his expression stern.

Rather alarmed, the blonde one leant closer to his younger friend: “Should I be worried?” he asked whispering.

Kame had to suppress an amused smile. Despite all the jokes, Koki had respect for the red shaman. He didn´t consider necessary to calm the other one down and Liwan confirmed it right away, as he moved and approached Koki with his right arm stretched forward.

“It is good you finally decided,” he stated calmly.

Koki, obviously relieved, accepted his hand.

“Next time,” the shaman continued. “Be a man sooner.”

“… I´ll try hard…”

Kame noticed that the blonde one was nodding his head somewhat too stiffly and he realized the reason only when Liwan released him. Once the Indian turned his back to them, Koki started to massage his fingers with a painful expression. Jin noted that fact with a gleeful sneer and neither Kame intended to pity the blonde one. Koki really took his time and it was understandable that Liwan, who was eager to get back to his tribe as soon as possible, didn´t like it.

Seeing his red brother rushing in the same way as the little Tanaka before, Kame knew that they could forget about any peaceful pace from now on.

“He has the grip of a bear, seriously,” the blonde one complained once he was sure that the Indian was out of earshot.

“I think you should be glad he didn´t pull out his tomahawk on you,” Jin expressed his opinion gleefully.

“And you should control your sadistic ideas a little,” Koki snorted.

“Not necessary in your case,” the other one countered and headed to Kuro, who seemed to be all eager to travel again.

When Kame noticed that the small figure of Koki´s brother appeared on the edge of the grove, as did Liwan´s, already in a saddle, he turned to the blonde one: “So… Have a safe journey home, Koki.”

The blonde one stopped frowning and looked at him gratefully: “Thanks. You too – be _extremely careful_ ,” he emphasized a little mockingly.

“We don´t need to hear that from _you_ ,” Jin, who approached them with Kuro and Ukushi tailing him, hit Koki´s shoulder with a closed fist in a friendly manner.

Koki grinned: “Fair enough.”

Jin turned away to mount his precious stallion, while Koki approached Kame with a sad sigh: “I will really miss you, guys. Especially you, Handsome.”

Kame was a bit surprised, when Koki suddenly hugged him, but then he figured the blonde one did it to provoke Jin, who let himself be heard almost immediately.

“Don´t worry, we _won´t_ miss you,” he announced obviously less amused than before.

Koki broke away from the younger one and stuck out his tongue: “Liar.”

Jin couldn´t help but chuckle: “If you think so…. We should really go, Liwan seems to be kind of impatient,” he commented the Indian´s not exactly slow ride around them toward the road. Juri was barely half way to the oak at that moment.

“Yeah, I must agree with you,” Koki reacted and watched as also Kame jumped up in Ukushi´s saddle swiftly. “Kame-chan… If it comes to that and you´ll be going back to Colorado, don´t you dare to pass by without taking me with you,” he urged on him.

“Sure. I know we can count with you,” the younger one assured him. “Take care, Koki.”

“See you, Goldilocks,” Jin touched the brim of his hat with a wide smile as the last one and followed Kame, who already rushed Ukushi behind Liwan´s horse.

“See you, guys!” Koki waved until they reached the road.

“Oh, they´re already gone?” the kid´s voice behind him complained.

Koki turned to his brother, who just reached the spot, leading a small pony behind him.

“Yeah… They were in a rush a bit,” he said, not without pity that he didn´t continue rushing with them. “Let´s go home, squirt.”

***

It was like an ugly scar in otherwise beautiful green scenery. A constantly growing metal line heading west, accompanied by heavy hammer strikes, by deep chanting of black workers and occasional explosions, which were needed for the railway to get through some difficult spots.

The small company of one Indian and two currently not active Black Riders, gladly avoided the settlement of many tents and hastily built huts through the nearby hills, which enable them to observe the buzzing, lively and smoky Hell on Wheels in its whole glory from above. They had purchased enough supplies in Billings, so they had no reason to deal with workers, merchants and harlots of the travelling ´city´. Not to mention Liwan´s deeply disgusted look toward the locomotive, which kept releasing awful clouds of black smoke up to the blue sky. It was a clear statement of what he thought about the Iron Horse and obviously did not intend to give it any more attention.

Leading their way, the shaman kept a sharp pace until daylight almost completely faded away. He stopped his stallion on a small clearing in the middle of nowhere just when Jin was about to suggest it. He didn’t like when he didn´t see where Kuro´s hooves went.

After they set up a decent fire and camped for the night, Liwan disappeared somewhere between the trees, probably to gather some wood, though it was not really necessary. The nights were still cool, but bearable even without a great fire. Nevertheless, Jin accepted the mug of herbal tea from Kame´s hands gratefully. It always tasted really good, or at least much better than the boring water. And not even the shaman could prepare it the way he liked so much, only Kame could.

“Is it just me or our Bear is somewhat nervous?” Jin suggested when the younger one joined him on the tanned leather that he had spread near their cheerful campfire.

“I noticed it as well,” Kame admitted, as he settled down right next to him.

“Does he have a reason to be?”

Kame sipped on the hot liquid from his mug carefully: “Hard to say. Everything was all right when we were leaving the reservation, but anything could have happened meanwhile. I´m not surprised he´s worried after such a long time being away.”

“I´d be worried too. It´s just surprising to see it on him,” Jin reacted thoughtfully.

“I know what you mean. Seeing him like this, the more I want us to get there as soon as possible.”

“So… Are we going to skip the visit in Bozeman?” Jin guessed.

They discussed this possibility once and Kame was planning to stop by in his home town…

“Yes,” the younger one nodded, confirming Jin´s assumption. “I can always go there later. Right now, the most important thing is to get to the tribe.”

Jin finished his drink and put the mug aside: “I can only agree. I even look forward to be with the Blackfeet Indians again.”

Kame gave him a curious look: “And why is that so?”

“Well, according to what you told me once, we don´t have to worry about getting a nice rope around our necks there,” he replied. “Isn´t that right?”

The younger one´s lips spread in a gentle smile: “It is.”

“Good.”

It was impossible to tell who moved first, but it didn´t matter, as all they cared about was the tingling sensation from the connection of their lips. Jin circled one arm around the younger´s form, while Kazuya blindly put his still half-full mug down to the grass, before slipping with his warmed fingers into the thick mass of the older one´s hair.

It was a slow, loving kiss, which warmed both of them up much efficiently than any tea. The same happy expression appeared on both their faces, when they moved away, not releasing the mutual embrace.

“Come to think of it,” Jin spoke quietly, his hand soothing Kame´s lower back slowly. “We can finally have our _vacation_ there.”

“How do you call those two weeks at the Riders´ cottage then?” his lover opposed, drawing small circles on the back of Jin´s neck.

“Not sufficient. We had to hide all the time,” the other one murmured.

“And the lake under waterfalls?”

“Too short,” a complaint came immediately.

“Well, then…” Kame lowered his voice. “We need to make the most of our time at the tribe.”

Jin pulled the younger one a bit closer: “Be careful about the tone you use, Kazuya.”

“Why?” the over-innocent question followed.

“Otherwise I might start rushing toward the Rocky Mountains even faster than our dear shaman…”

The mischievous fires in Kame´s eyes told Jin that it wouldn´t necessarily be a bad thing to do.

“Any complaints about our progress?” a strict question made both young men raise their eyes to the Indian, who just approached the fire with a pile of dry branches in his hands.

“Not at all, Bear,” Jin denied right away and loosened his grip around Kame, but still kept him close.

“Good. More than enough of restraints we had,” Liwan assumed, settling down opposite them.

Kame made himself comfortable in Jin´s embrace, leaning over his body and still as foolishly happy as the first time the older one finally stopped pulling away from him completely when somebody else was around.

“We´ll be there soon now, my Brother.”

“I know. Though, I would be sooner there alone,” Liwan reacted sternly.

“Come on,” Jin laughed. “Do not even try to pretend you aren´t glad we set off with you.”

Liwan gave him a dark look: “My journey would be much quicker without your constant detours.”

“Much more boring as well,” the older one grinned at him.

For a while, the Indian stared at the bright faces of the two lovers, before he sighed defeated. They both knew that he was not really upset, more like they noticed his uneasiness and tried to cheer him up. He was not willing to admit it aloud, but Akanishi was right.

“I will sleep now. You two do whatever you like but we continue once the sun wakes up.”

“Sure. Though, only if you help me to wake Jin up. You know how he is with the mornings,” Kame reminded the well-known fact, chuckling on the pinch of Jin´s fingers in his side.

“Cold water will do,” Liwan assumed, dragging his blanket closer to the fire.

“Don´t you dare,” Jin growled.

“We can leave you here then. So that you can sleep to your happiness,” the Indian announced. “I would be content just with my blood brother alone.”

An amused chuckle escaped Kame´s lips. Liwan already knew how to play the right string.

“Forget it,” the older one retorted right away.

“With the sunrise then,” Liwan concluded their conversation calmly and hid himself under the blanket.

“An Indian tyrant,” Jin complained quietly.

“If we go to sleep now too, you´ll get enough of your beloved rest,” Kame informed him smiling.

“Hmm, but I thought you´d like to keep a night watch with me…”

“Not necessary,” the mumble was heard from the Indian.

Jin stabbed the lying form with his eyes, while Kame just suppressed another laugh and then slipped away from the older one´s embrace: “That´s right, we should be safe enough here. And the sooner we set off tomorrow, the closer our _vacation_ gets,” he winked at Jin, gave him a short, teasing kiss and stood up before the older one could grasp him again.

“I know,” Jin sighed. “It´s the only thing, which can make me to get up so soon in the morning,” he murmured only for himself.

***

**_State of Colorado_ **

**_Laporte Quarry_ **

A neat room serving as a manager office still smelled after freshly cut down trees. Though, it would surely not take long before that special odor would be gone. The gray-haired man was sitting behind the table in silent focus, the newest newspapers spread out in front of him…

**“Those criminals will not escape justice again!” Horace Tabor stated in his fierce speech in front of the press.**

The article was quite specific, providing details of Governor´s each word and his personal grudge towards the Black Riders was gushing out of it more expressly than the man in his position should allow to.

For long weeks, there was no news regarding to the famous gang whatsoever. It was like they disappeared from the country. But then, some good soul from Hereford, a small city near the borders with Wyoming affected by the flu recently, reported that the Riders were the ones saving its citizens. Naturally, by the time the US Marshals got to the place, there was not a hat seen from them and none of the epidemic survivors talked. Nobody even confirmed they were really there.

Shortly after that, quite a weird story about a crazy group of men in black raiding two peaceful farms in one day spread out, claiming that they murdered all their residents. Tabor, furious ever since the Riders robbed him in Leadville, used this story to his advantage, made quite a fuss about it and with the help of his friend in Senate finally accomplished what he had been pursuing for so long – a special unit of soldiers was assigned to chase after and arrest all the Riders and the most of all their leader – Leo Akanishi.

That over-motivated speech just added the fuel to the fire, as Tabor once again promised a great reward to anyone who would come with any information about the Black Riders.

Cameron´s eyes were still on the papers, but he didn´t actually see the words anymore. It was just his assumption, but he didn´t think that those farm raids should be credited to the Riders´ account. It didn´t seem to be their thing. He thought that Tabor only used those unfortunate events to his advantage and set them up.

The problem was that something like that would alert the Riders for sure and they would definitely be more careful. Just when he was finally satisfied with how things in the quarry were going and wanted to focus on something else…

Leo Akanishi was currently the best lead he had on those two Montana brats. His determination to make them pay for what they did didn´t falter even a bit. Raynold Karnaka made Cameron who he was. He never had a family or even friends, which would care for him. His master was everything to him and he wouldn´t mind serving him until his own death. Unfortunately, those two remade this predetermined fate of his and at the same time, it changed Cameron. He was independent now, powerful and also quite rich. And he could be damn patient too…

A short knock disrupted his thoughts, but since he had been expecting it, it didn´t annoy him.

“Come in, Danny,” he invited the boy.

Young McFly in dusty clothes stepped inside right away. The bruises on his face healed completely long ago, but in spite of that his expression somehow darkened from the way it used to be.

“All of today´s cargo left without problems, Mr. Cameron,” the boy reported in a disinterested voice. “After your yesterday´s intervention, there were no more complaints regarding the wages.”

“Very well. Thank you, Danny.”

“Anything else you need, sir?”

There was a strange vibe in that question, which made Cameron narrow his eyes. The previous Grenet´s treatment left indelible traces in that boy.

“Not today. But I need you to go to Fort Collins. The first thing in the morning.”

“Sure,” McFly nodded. “But what for?”

“You´ll send a telegram,” Cameron replied, already taking a pen and starting to write something down.

Danny approached the table slowly, his curiosity awakened: “To whom?”

His current boss hadn´t replied until he was finished writing and got up. He walked around the table and stopped unpleasantly close to Danny, who didn´t dare to move away.

“To Horace Tabor,” Cameron Henderson said.


End file.
